


Next to Normal

by tangledintime



Series: Jake & Amy's Guide to Parenting [1]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Kidfic, idk this is stupid, ill leave, pregnant amy is my shit okay, stupidly cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-06 21:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10344585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tangledintime/pseuds/tangledintime
Summary: Today, is one of the weirder days however. Charles is acting weirder than usual, Gina isn’t on her phone all the time and for once, Rosa asked her if she was doing alright.This is Jake’s doing, she can feel it and with a kick, their baby agrees with her.In which an eight month pregnant Amy is alone in the office with colleagues who may or may not have been intimidated by Jake to watch her like a hawk.





	

**Author's Note:**

> because I'm an idiot who's fallen back in love with these two dorks.

“What do you need, Amy? A bottle of water, a cookie, a foot massage?”

 

If Charles spoke one more word, Amy is afraid she is going to deck him.

 

Amy Santiago sits in her chair, glaring daggers at her colleague, Charles Boyle as he tries to aid her in getting around the office. She doesn’t need Boyle’s help, she made that clear at the start of the day when she walked through the elevator door into the bullpen and he asked her if she needed help getting to her chair. Funnily enough, Amy can say that that isn’t the craziest thing Boyle has ever said to her throughout the duration of her pregnancy. Jake had to stop him from emailing her his baby videos when she was about six months along. 

 

“Charles, for the hundredth time, I’m fine.” she tells him, with grit in her voice as she swivels in her chair to face him fully. Pregnancy has made her more irritable, with little to no patience. Rosa and Gina love it because according to Gina, it makes for some great snapchat stories. Poor Hitchcock and Scully, they did get the brunt of her anger but honestly, that is bottled up inside of her from years and years of working with them. Terry and Captain Holt know how to deal with her, both having been around pregnant women before, so they take her anger with a grain of salt. Charles knows less about her fluxing hormones and ends up crying when she shouts at him for getting her coffee wrong. So, whenever she comes near him, it’s like he’s walking on glass. 

 

He winces at the sharpness in her voice, but still smiles. “Got it, that’s a-okay.” he backs away, shooting her finger guns as he sits on his chair. Amy rolls her eyes, huffing out a breath as she turns back to her computer. Her eyes flit to Jakes desk, currently empty, for a second, sighing again. Jake was out today, surveying a crime scene of a pretty sadistic murder. While the murder had happened a few days prior, the crime scene was still being investigated. Jake didn’t want to go. She remembers hearing smatterings of his discussions with the Captain earlier in the week. 

 

“Look, Captain, can’t you do something?” Amy knew it was serious when she could practically feel his desperation from outside the room. 

 

Holt looked like he wanted to do something, but he shrugged defeatedly. “I’m sorry, Peralta, my hands are tied.”

 

“She’s eight months, I don’t want to-“

 

“Jake,” her eyes widened a little, “if anything happens, we will alert you immediately.”

 

Amy hasn’t told Jake she heard that conversation, but it didn’t feel like he was hiding his nerves either. She knows he is just being protective, this was his son she was carrying, and he never wants anything bad to happen to her, baby or no baby. Amy thinks that his lingering kiss he had left her that morning had been it, like that was him promising himself that she was going to be okay without him. However, ever since he’d left, something has been off in the office. She was no stranger to weird day in the 99 unit. She was present for most of the strange happenings in the office. 

 

 Today, is one of the weirder days however. Charles is acting weirder than usual, Gina isn’t on her phone all the time and for once, Rosa asked her if she was doing alright.

 

This is Jake’s doing, she can feel it and with a kick, their baby agrees with her.

 

She frowns, her leg bouncing up and down as her eye’s lock with Terry. They widen before he’s suddenly looking at everywhere but her direction. She groans, lifting herself out of her office chair, leaving it spinning behind her. She waddles towards the Sergeant, watching him as he becomes sheepish, looking down at his files. Amy takes another step, and another, and then grunts as it seems that Terry is slowly backing away from her in his chair. The brunette lays a hand on her swollen stomach, replacing her concentrated frown with a well practised look of what some(Jake) might say to be _‘polite yet intrusive’_. Oh yeah, she’s mastered that look. Many a perp have fallen for this look. 

 

“Hey, Terry.” she says, all high pitch and big pseudo-friendly smiles.

 

“Hi, hey, hello,” Terry screeches, but then his voice returns to his deep register, if a little deeper than normal to keep composure. “Hello, detective Santiago, what can I help you with?”

 

“Oh nothing,” she says, keeping her nonchalant attitude, “I was just saying to myself that everyone is being so attentive today.” she watches him stiffen from the corner of her eye. “Like, Gina ask me about my day today. Isn’t that crazy?”

 

Terry laughs. An awkward, clipped laugh. “Yeah, crazy. Whew.”

 

“It’s almost as if someone put her up to it. All of you, actually.” she puts her knuckles on the desk, leaning down. A trick she learned from interrogating perps. “Anything you want to tell me?”

 

Terry shakes his head rapidly. “No, no, we’re just being nice. Yeah, being nice, that’s it.”

 

For once, Amy is glad Holt stopped her from interrogating perps while pregnant because he answers one question in a way she doesn’t want and she’s slamming her hands against his table. “No, you’re not goddammit, tell me the truth!” she all but screams at him, alerting the entire nine nine enough for some cops to reach for their weapons.

 

Rosa stands up, Gina looks down from her phone and Boyle is nearly crying again before Captain Holt emerges from his office. “Detective Santiago.” he bellows down to her, shaking her from her rage. “I’d like to speak with you in my office, now.”

 

Amy stands proper, her eyes allowing her to see the crowd she’s gathered. It’s only know that’s she’s realised what happened. Before stepping into Holt’s office, she turns to Terry sheepishly and says, “Sorry.”

 

Terry only smiles and she turns to enter the room, stopping for a second as her baby’s kick feels sharper than usual.

 

-

 

“Detective Santiago, is there a problem between you and Sergeant Jeffords?”

 

Amy has never been to the principals office in her life, but this is what it must’ve felt like.

 

She’s already seconds away from spilling her entire plan, but she has to answer this first. “Absolutely not, Captain. This is completely my fault.”

 

The Captain raises a brow. “How so?”

 

And then her diabolical plan is revealed. How she planned to extract info from her sources, figure out if Jake had told, or possibly in some cases intimidate, some of their friends to make sure nothing happened to her. It is also revealed that she is quite endeared by Jake’s need to keep her safe but she was grown woman who could keep herself safe. She is living for two now, she has read all the books on how to protect yourself during pregnancy along with books on how to deal with the workplace while pregnant and-

 

“Detective!” Holt cuts in. Amy silences immediately. “Yes, it is true, detective Peralta and I decided it was in your best interests to alert the rest of the precinct to keep a close eye on you.”

 

“Charles tried to tell me the benefits of eating placenta.”

 

“It seems some of them might’ve been a little too invasive and for that, I apologise.” Holt says through his grimace. Amy grimaces also, but not because of Charles’ disgusting health discussions, but because of the tight twist in her gut. “I will make sure they back off slightly.” 

 

“Thank you, Captain Holt.” she stands after this, smiling lightly. “Although, maybe not too much? Gina makes good tea.”

 

“So I’ve heard.” the Captain jokes. 

 

“She told me the recipe once, it had something to do with ginger and— _whoa!_ ” Amy stops short, clutching her stomach as it sends a spike of pain straight through her. Her other hand is gripping the door frame, her knuckles white as she rides out the pain. “Jesus!” the detective says under her breath once it’s over.

 

“Detective?” Holt says, alert now. He’s standing now also and suddenly right behind her, his hands out as if she’s going to fall. 

 

Amy shakes her head, waving her hand dismissively. “Everything’s fine, Captain.” she takes a step back into the precinct. “Everything’s fi— _argh!_ ” this time she’s screaming, feeling a pain that makes her teeth clench and back hunch. Holt reaches for her, as Boyle gasps. 

 

“Amy!” he shouts, starting to run towards her before barreling into Terry who knows now is not the time for Amy to deal with Boyle.

 

Holt waits for the pain to subside before asking. “Has this been happening continuously?”

 

Amy looks up at him, breathing through the pain. “A little, but they’ve been irregular, and far apart. Nothing like this.”

 

She is lying, it’s happened once before. One night when she was six months pregnant.

 

(Amy’ll never forget it. Waking up at four am feeling like you’ve been stabbed in the gut. Waking up Jake with tears already flowing down her face. The deafening silence in the car as he drove to the hospital, pale faced and confused. Crying into each others arms when it’s discovered it was only Braxton Hicks. Amy has never seen Jake openly weep, but she did that night.)

 

Holt nods, then checks his watch. “It seems they have decided to speed up. Do you have a bag, Amy?”

 

He’s so calm, but she’s not. She’s far from calm as she recalls the fact that she’s not due for three weeks. She had a bag packed, sure, but that was for her maternity leave, which she was meant to take next week. Looks like it was starting now. Tears are welling in her eyes as Holt repeats his question. “Yeah, yeah, over there.” she points meekly to her desk. 

 

Rosa rushes towards it. The whole office is at a stand still. 

 

“Sergeant, please inform detective Peralta, and Gina, help me to the elevator.”

 

Gina does so willingly, grasping Amy’s arm and giving it a squeeze. “Girl, look at you, finally being dramatic.” she whispers, Amy barely smiles.

 

Boyle waves from Terry’s hold. “We love you, Amy!” he cries out, along with the rest of the nine nine’s cheers of encouragement. 

 

They enter the elevator, and the pain starts again. 

 

-

 

Jake Peralta stands in the coroners office, a puzzled look decorating his face as he stares at crime scene photos. This job was supposed to be an easy B&E job, but it seemed there was more to it than that. He cursed the perps for being complicated and smart. He could be back at the precinct with Amy, preparing her for her maternity leave, but Wunch had to be a dingus and separate them. Holt had told him that he would let the nine nine know to keep a closer eye on Amy, make sure nothing was wrong. Jake will never tell Amy, but he had told Captain Holt about the Braxton Hicks, and how he never actually thought he could loose her or their son until that night. Holt had told him nothing would happen on his watch. 

 

Jake believed him, but he felt it was necessary to tell some choice colleagues of him in his own little way. 

 

(And no, he did not threaten Hitchcocks stash of peanut butter cups, whatever he says)

 

So he worked the case and resides here, staring at a murder board blankly. The medical examiner walks in, clipboard in hand. “Any ideas?”

 

“No, none. which is really bumming me out.” also, not being able to be beside his pregnant girlfriend, but he felt he shouldn’t disclose that much just yet. 

 

“Alright, well, I have to take off for a moment. Karen can handle any of your inquires.” they say goodbye and again Jake is left to stare at the murder board that is giving him nothing.

 

He’s just about to give up when his phone rings. It’s Terry. His heart rate picks up. “Hello?”

 

“Jake, it’s Terry.” 

 

“What’s going on?” he hates how panicked he sounds. 

 

“Amy’s having contractions. She’s with Holt now on the way to the hospital, where are you?”

 

“Contractions?” his heart is thumping in his ears now. “She’s having the baby.”

 

“Yup, and soon. You’ll need to— No, Charles he doesn’t need a police escort.” 

 

“Terry!” Jake’s voice breaks. “Tell her I’ll be there in two minutes.”

 

He hangs up, takes a deep breath and before he knows it, his eyes are failing to stop the tears. He grins. 

 

“I’mma be a dad!”

 

-

 

Jake gets there in three. He rushes past Holt and Gina and into the first room he sees. Then immediately leaves, realising that’s not Amy. 

 

“Room 204.” they say in unison and Jake is running again. 

 

He arrives to see his girlfriend attached to wires and machines with a red face. She’s clearly in pain, as she screams. “WHERE WERE YOU?” at the top of her lungs. 

 

“Sorry, traffic was a nightmare.” he walks towards her, kissing her forehead. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

 

“Jake.” she whispers, uncharacteristically quiet. “He’s not due for three weeks.”

 

“Yeah, well, trust a Santiago to be far too early.” she giggles but it transitions into a groan as another contraction hits her. 

 

The doctor walks up to her. “I’m assuming you’re the dad.”

 

“Yes, that’s me. The main daddy-o.” Amy’s hand squeezes his. He yelps. “Ah, yes, sorry, go on.”

 

It takes fourteen hours, but eventually little baby Peralta is here in the flesh. Visitors come and go from their family and friends to see him and coddle him. Boyle weeps when asked to be Godfather and Holt gives Jake a long hug. Night time rolls around the corner and before Amy falls asleep she asks. “Jake.”

 

He looks up from the little bundle of powder blue in his arms. “Uh huh?”

 

“Did you force the others to be nice to me?”

 

Her speech is slurred from tiredness, but he nods. “Absolutely.”

 

“We’ll deal with this later.” she’s out like a light moments later. 

 

Jake hums a laugh, just knowing the lecture he’ll get about that but he doesn’t care. To him, right now he made the right decision. He was looking at his son. His real, actually there son. Nothing else mattered. 

 

“Now, little Johnny.” he spoke softly. “Did you know that you are named after one of the best cops out there?”


End file.
